Payette, Middle Fork

About a quarter mile above the Nozzle, there is a large tree that spans almost the entire length of the river (about 3 feet of clearance to the bank on river right). Not a fun move to get to for rafts or cats, as you have to maneuver around a large rock upstream, but a kayak can probably make it. This tree could be around for a long time.

First taste of Idaho whitewater for us WA boys, rolled up to the Middle Fork to get our feet wet after exploring caves the last few days. The put in for the run at Hardscrabble was overrun by a group of ATV enthusiasts camping there so we put in on the other side of the bridge. There wasn't a lot of water but there was enough, keep in mind the rocks on this run are very sticky especially in packrafts. There were several class II+ boulder gardens that provided some fun slalom action and a few fun surf waves. At one point the river banks around a big right hand bend, this is an early indication that The Nozzle is coming soon. The riverbed will drop into a mini canyon and pool up for a bit above an obvious horizon line. I was able to roll up ahead of the group and boat scout on the right, there were a couple of good diagonal waves below a little flaking hole at the top in the middle. You basically just go down the middle, the left side looks relatively undercut and the right side would be a bunch of bouncy boulders but the middle is a fun chute. There were several more class II+ boulder gardens after the Nozzle that were all straightforward read and run and gave us a lot of fun lines. I'm not sure if we used the marked takeout, but our run was roughly 2.5 miles so we figured it would count if we just pulled off our car wherever the whitewater really ended. Below this is a lot of flatwater down to the south fork that we saw tubers and stand up paddleboarders on.

Historically, some of these rapids have been labeled class IV. While they certainly require skill to paddle successfully, the consequences are not as dire as sections of the SF Payette. They have been downgraded to III ratings because of the nearby road access, moderate traffic, and appropriate consequences for swimming the aftermath.

If the Nozzle is a class IV rapid, then Trestle, Howard's, GLOYF, and Mike's Hole are mislabeled. You would have to TRY to take the wrong line on Nozzle (river right-- many rocks for piton, pin, and/or bruises)